The Fifth Force – Epilog

This post is a continuation and the conclusion of the previous post, THE FIFTH FORCE.

Aside from the connection with the last week’s Torah portion, Vayelech, there is also connection with and Aseret Yimei Teshuvah (Ten Days of Repentance) and Yom Kippur.

When it comes to physics of fundamental forces, there are two unresolved problems: (i) unification of gravity with the other three fundamental forces (electromagnetic, strong and weak); and (ii) discovery of the fifth force. Both problems are related to repentance (teshuvah), which comes to sharp focus on the Ten Days of Repentance (Aseret Yimei Teshuvah) and Yom Kippur.

Firstly, the word “teshuva” doesn’t mean “repentance”, it literally means “return” In Kabbalah tradition, the word TeShuVaH, is read as “ToShuV H” – return of the letter “heh”. It is talking about the return of the last letter heh of the proper Divine name, Tetragammaton (Havayah). Indeed, out of the four letters of the Tetragrammaton – YHWH – the first three make up a separate Divine Name, YHW (pronounced in the vernacular as Kah). Thus, Tetragrammaton can be viewed as a combination of this Name, Kah, with the letter heh: YHW-H. The last letter heh represent the Shechinah (Divine presence). When a Jew sins, it forces Shechinah into galut—exile. In the state of galut, the last letter heh is missing, as it were, from the Tetragrammaton. Thus, the repentance is viewed as the return of the last letter heh (Shechinah) from the galut and reunification it with the other three letters of the Tetragrammaton: YHW<–H.

As we said in the previous post, THE FIFTH FORCE, the last letter heh of the Tetragrammaton represents gravity. This force is in “exile” in a sense that it cannot be unified with the other three fundamental forces. Thus the process of returning the last letter heh to the other three letters of Tetragrammaton parallels the quest for the unification of gravity with the other three fundamental forces.

If we were to attempt to glean any insights from this parallel, the gematriah (numerical value) of the letter heh – 5 – may hint towards the five-dimensional theory such as Kaluza-Klein theory or the toy five-dimensional model I developed in the early 70s. Kaluza-Kein theory is a special case of the string theory, which is the best candidate today for the Theory of Everything.

On a cosmic scale, the present state of galut is characteristic of the Shechinah being in exile. In Kabbalistic tradition, the messianic redemption signifies the return of the Shechinah from the exile. From this one can deduce that gravity will be unified with the other three forces in the Theory of Everything before the advent of Mashiach (Messiah).

The hypothetical fifth force, on the other hand, is not yet discovered. It may be said that it is in a concealed state. As it corresponds to the apex of the yud, , it can be seen as connected with Yehida – the fifth “level” of the soul.

In Lurianic Kabbalah, there are four principal worlds. They are (in descending order): Atzilut (World of Emanation), Briya (World of Creation), Yetzirah (World of Formation) and Assiyah (World of Action). They correspond to the four letters of Tetragrammaton.

There are four souls, or four levels of a Divine soul (in ascending order): Nefesh (living soul), Ruach (spirit), Neshama (soul, breath of life) and Chaya (life-force). They also correspond to the four letters of the Tetragrammaton Chayah (Y), Neshama (H), Ruach (W) and Nefesh (H).

There is also the fifth “level” of the soul – Yehida (oneness, unity, singularity). It is the essence of the Divine soul (Pintele Yid) that is always connected with God. Yehida corresponds to the apex of the yud in the Tetragrammaton. Similarly there worlds that are above the four worlds enumerated above that are parallel to the apex of the yud. They are identifies in different kabbalistic sources as Ketter (Crown) or Adam Kadmon (Primordial Man). The parztuf of Arich Anpin that Arizal associates with the first book of the Torah – Genesis – is one of two partzufim of Ketter.

We can summarize all of these in the following table:

YHWH

Chumash

Partzuf

World

Soul

Fundamental Force

Apex of Yud

י

Genesis

Arich Anpin

Keter or Adam Kadmon

Yehida

Fifth Force

Yud

י

Exodus

Abba

Atzilut

Chayah

Strong nuclear force

Heh

ה

Leviticus

Imma

Beriyah

Neshama

Weak force – betta decay

Waw

ו

Numbers

Zeer Anpin

Yetzirah

Ru’ach

Electromagnetic force

Heh

ה

Deuteronomy

Nukvah

Assiyah

Nefesh

Gravitational force

Usually, the level of Yehida is hidden and is only revealed during the fifth tefilah (prayer) of Yom Kippur – Neilah – when the penitent reach the apex of teshuvah. If the fifth force is associated with the fifth level of the soul, it is no wonder that it remains hidden from experimentalist that are looking for it.

Again, if we were to try to glean any insights from this parallel, it seems to support the Quintessence theory of the fifth force. In Kabbalah, the four elements correspond to the four letters of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH): Fire (Aish) – Y, Water (Mayim) – H, Air (Ruach) – W and Earth (Afar) – H. However, ancient Greeks, in addition to four elements, had a fifth element quinta essential. This element was deemed by Greek philosophers to be essence of the other four elements. It seems to me that this fifth element is parallel in Jewish though with the fifth soul – Yehida – which is thought to be the essence of all other levels of the Divine soul.

As the Lubavitcher Rebbe explained in the essay, On the Essence of Chasidus, the level of Mashiach is the level of Yehida. Only with the coming of Mashiach, the universal Yehida of the collective soul of the Jewish people – Knesset Yisrael – will be revealed. When the fifth force will be discovered, we’ll know – Mashiach is near!

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Alexander Poltorak was trained as a theoretical physicist in Russia. He is Chairman and CEO of General Patent Corporation. Dr. Poltorak served as an Assistant Professor of Biomathematics at Cornell University Medical College, as an Assistant Professor of Physics at Touro College, he guest-lectured at Columbia University School of Engineering and Business School. He is presently affiliated with the CUNY serving as an adjunct professor of physics at the City College of New York and Research Fellow at the Institute for Ultrafast Spectroscopy and Lasers. Alex Poltorak authored several books and many articles. He blogs about physics, kabbalah and Jewish philosophy.